Moments
by Drift2
Summary: What seems unimportant is often what matters most: The smallest things have the greatest cause and effect: Trivial moments in time that stay with us forever.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: All MMPR characters belong to their rightful owners. No profit. Just fun. **

**Rated M for: Occasional language, adult themes, sexual situations. **

a/n: Vignettes of a slightly alternate MMPR universe. Jason and Kimberly centric. Will follow a base plot, but may jump timewise every few chapters or so. It may seem like I'm Tommy-bashing at times, but it's just the way I decided to go with the story. When I say slightly alternate, that applies more so for him. How he came to be, his relationship with the other characters. Chapters will be anywhere between 2 and 400 words. Story will likely be fairly long. Thank you for reading... Reviews make me smile!

**1. Jason: Stay**

He bites his tongue and reels in his temper.

Zordon remains silent.

The others shift uncomfortably.

There's a moment, somewhere between his hand twitching in impatience and the appearance of his deceptively relaxed veneer, when he thinks of walking out.

Fuck Tommy. Fuck this team.

"We'll figure this out, okay?" Her voice is small, coaxing, because she's literally between them. "Let's not fight. We're on the same side."

The pink in his peripherals would normally calm him, but the green that moves closer to her sends his chest into a flurry of damn near uncontrollable anger.

He never thought he'd feel this way about his friends.

Never thought it'd be them stressing him out, rather than the ridiculous monsters and the world-threatening madness that never ends.

Kimberly wraps small fingers around his forearm and looks him in the eye, and he knows he'll never leave as long as she's here.

"We need you, Jason. Please. _Try_."

She reads him like a picture book. Doesn't need words to understand what's going through his head.

He turns back to Zordon and addresses the task at hand. The arguments with Tommy will continue, and it will always play out the same.

He wants to go with every fiber of his being. But couldn't live with himself if he left her behind.

Nothing will change, and he'll remain, and everything will continue to disintegrate until their lives are unrecognizable.

But he'll be with her and, for now, that will have to be enough.


	2. Chapter 2

**2: Kimberly: Sides**

They used to be a unit. Impenetrable. So tightly woven, their lives were indecipherable. Always together. Always at each others' backs.

She watches them square off again.

Blue and yellow this time.

Much lighter than Red and Green, but still miserable.

It's a silly argument, something trivial and easily forgotten. Something they never would have blinked at a few months before.

Despite what she tries to tell herself, she knows the timing is more than coincidence.

Blue rolls his eyes and stomps away, finished with the endless bickering.

They'll see each other tomorrow and they'll speak, but carelessly thrown words will make things awkward; tender hearts and sore pride.

It will be a few days before anyone can speak freely again.

Jason and Zack sit, watching from a bench beside their mat. She sees the worry lines around Jason's eyes, the deep, dark circles that she knows come from little sleep and too much work. She wants to tell him to take it easy, rest up, take better care of himself.

But she's half the problem.

Because when Tommy comes in the room, he's beside her, arm slung over her shoulder, smiling down at her with an ease nobody else has felt in quite some time. He still thinks it's all just a game. Nothing is serious for him.

Jason is gone when she looks back, but Zack remains. Watches her with stony disapproval and something that just screams _done_. It makes her heart hurt.

Almost as much as the missing red.

Her favorite color.

Her best friend.

He's gone, because she feels sorry for Tommy.

He's absent, because she doesn't want to pick sides.

He's angry, because even though she didn't _want_ to, she already has.


	3. Chapter 3

**3: Jason: Silence**

His class goes without a hitch, but he feels no satisfaction.

Zack is beaming, happy to have been apart of it, happy to be doing something productive. They've worked so hard to get this class off the ground. Celebration should be in order.

But he feels her watching him from the bar and knows he's hurting her.

The silence between them bursts his eardrums, throbs in his temples, tears at his chest.

He wants nothing more than to suck it up and apologize. It's the longest they've gone without speaking, the longest he's ever given her the cold shoulder. They've had their fights, but even the worst cant compare to what's hovering above them now.

It's a dark cloud; heavy and thunderous and cold.

He knows the damage it's doing only escalates the longer he lets it go on. But for all the guilt he feels as he walks passed her, sees the way her eyes follow him, feels the way she tries to catch his attention without speaking up, he wonders: can he overlook her indiscretion?

Tommy started out as a mutual interest. Someone that needed help, someone that could benefit from their influence. A possible friend. An ally.

Now, though, he's taking advantage. And her defensiveness on his behalf feels less like an indiscretion and more like betrayal.

Can he forgive and forget?

When he looks over his shoulder, Tommy is at the bar beside Kimberly; flirty and touching and smiling.

No, he cant.

Maybe the rift between Red and Green isn't all about how to save the world, or about what's right and what's wrong.

Jason walks home alone, broody and tense, thinking of better days.

When being alone was unimaginable, because there was always a flash of pink somewhere beside him, making him smile, making him feel better, making him think that there was nothing in this world that could separate them.

He shuts the thoughts out, refuses to let them take root, because at the end of the day he was their leader, and he had to be objective. Tommy was part of the team, and Jason had to accept that.

Even if it meant putting aside his own feelings, and letting those memories of pink and red fade into the background.


	4. Chapter 4

**4: Kimberly: False**

She's known for her honesty. For her positive attitude and bright outlook on life, on everything. Nothing is ever too terrible.

Lying is a new thing, but it's become increasingly easy as she's tested the waters.

First, with the team: _Tommy is good. He'll help us. He'll be as good as we are_.

All wrong, all lies. She knew something was off about him. When they found him, beaten and drained and nearly out of his mind after Rita's hold on him failed, she knew he wasn't stable enough to join the Power Rangers.

But the guilt, seeing his struggle and his pain, had made her want to pretend. He'd wanted it so badly, and she'd just been trying to help.

Jason knew better, though. He was the realist, after all. He didn't see butterflies and rainbows and happy endings. He saw things as they were, and as they would, or could, be. He'd wanted to give Tommy time, see how he adjusted to Angel Grove, see if his mind would recover from everything Rita did to him.

Those little white lies have compounded, and led to others.

More than the team, but to her friends: _He's doing great. Everything is fine. Of course I'm alright. _

Looking back, she wishes she would have listened to Jason. He'd warned her not to get too close, to keep an objective opinion. He'd warned her of the dangers this Green Ranger could bring.

In her room, books scattered over her bed, homework and study guides and pencils squished between them; an awkward air, something unsaid, something Tommy wants to get out.

She'd offered to help him with his classes. He's having a lot of trouble. But that's not why he's here.

"I really care about you," he's saying, though her eyes never left her book. "You know that. Don't you?"

His hand is on her thigh, and the discomfort is paralyzing.

"Kim?"

Hot breath brushes across her cheek, a wisp of hair falls into her eye. His lips press to her temple, and then to her nose, and then the corner of her mouth.

Her phone rings. It's Trini. She smiles politely, if not apologetically. He takes the hint, gathers his books and waves a silent goodbye before closing her bedroom door.

She tries to control her breathing when Trini asks what's wrong, and she relays all the things that have been bothering her since Tommy fell into their lives.


	5. Chapter 5

**5. Jason: Sacrifice**

After three days of sporadic battles and running ragged, Zedd's newest creation is nearly defeated.

Jason closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He needs his head.

"We have to go after them!"

"Storming in without thinking it through could only worsen the situation," Billy reasons, tries to put a hand on Tommy's shoulder.

Tommy shrugs him away, all his attention on the Red Ranger. "Jason, he has _Kimberly_."

"And Trini," Zack says, frowning. "Billy's right. We need to be careful."

Jason ignores them, watches the viewing globe intently. They're in a cell, somewhere in Zedd's palace. There's no way of knowing exactly _where_, and he'd be naïve to think Zedd would leave any sort of clues.

"I have an idea," Jason finally tells them, still watching the Pink and Yellow Rangers, "Suit up and get ready, I'll be back shortly."

He materializes somewhere in the desert, far away from the team, far away from Zordon and Alpha.

"Here I am," he says to the wind.

It's barely a few seconds before Zedd is there, tilting his head in surprise. "Unexpected, Red Ranger. But interesting."

"Release them," Jason says, removing his communicator, tossing it to the ground. "No fuss, no fight."

Zedd laughs, taps his staff in the dirt. "Done."

They disappear, and back at the Command Center, Kimberly and Trini are returned to their team mates unharmed.


	6. Chapter 6

**6. Kimberly: Judgment**

She stares, blinks, stares. No matter how many times she closes her eyes and reopens them, Jason is still where she's supposed to be.

Zedd captured her, and then Trini. They were supposed to come rescue them. It wasn't supposed to go down like this.

"That freak-show is headed Downtown," Tommy grumbles, arms folded, "We need to take him out before he does any more damage."

Though she's still watching Jason, her attention is averted to Zack, who comes barreling across command.

"What about Jason?" The Black Ranger demands, "Not five minutes ago you were ready to storm the gates, and now we're back to dealing with Big-Ugly?"

"Jason can handle himself." Tommy shrugs. "But everyone else is in danger now-"

"- They've _been_ in danger," Zack yells, closing in, "You just didn't care until Kimberly was back and safe. And she's only here because _Jason_ gave himself up. Now we're just supposed to turn our backs and leave him hangin'?"

Kimberly watches the Red Ranger sit patiently. He looks so calm. And it's funny; even though they've barely spoken, even though they're supposed to be in a fight, she misses his presence here.

They need his leadership now, his guidance. He always knows what to do in difficult situations. It always seems so easy for him.

"Jason is a big boy, Zack, and you know he wouldn't want us to -"

She drowns them out. Without the Red Ranger, they're without direction. But they need to do something. She wonders; what would Jason do? Without thought, she already knows.

"We destroy the monster," she tells Zack, finally turning to look at him. "We save the City, and then we get him back."

It pisses him off, but she sees the acceptance flash in his eyes. He knows, just like she does, that Jason would never put himself or one of them above the City's safety. He gave himself up for the sake of two.

And Tommy was right about one thing; Jason can take care of himself.

They morph and meet the monster just outside Downtown.


End file.
